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The Breakfast Buffet: Braylon Mullins, Louisville/Tennessee, Rienk Mast

Who’s hungry for college basketball?

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, a daily column that can be found here every single morning getting you caught up to date on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Mangia!

Things To Sample

Braylon Mullins is rounding into form for UConn
The Huskies’ five-star freshman missed the first month of the 2025-26 season due to an ankle injury, but he’s quickly making up for lost time. The 6-6 Mullins has scored in double figures in three of his last four games and is starting to show the form that made him one of the nation’s most coveted recruits. Mullins — who’s just 6-21 from three-point range this season — can still play significantly better than he’s played as UConn gets set to begin Big East play tonight in Hartford against Butler.

Louisville/Tennessee
The Vols haven’t won a game since they beat Houston on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving in Las Vegas. They also haven’t played in 10 days. Rick Barnes and his team should be plenty ornery when the Cardinals visit Rocky Top this evening. Tennessee drilled Louisville by 22 points last season at the KFC Yum Center in the first installment of this home-and-home series and it’s a defeat that still resonates with Pat Kelsey. This is a Sweet 16 caliber matchup.

Rienk Mast is playing like an All-American
He’s not getting the same attention as other big men in the Big Ten like Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg or Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn, but Mast is as important to Nebraska as any player in the Big Ten is to his team this season. The linchpin on the Huskers’ team that reached the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the 6-10 Mast missed last year due to injury, but has returned this season with a vengeance. A prototypical face-up five-man for Fred Hoiberg’s system, Mast operates essentially as a “point center” for Nebraska and is currently averaging 17.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists while shooting 53.7 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from three-point range. The Huskers’ 11-0 start is the best in program history.

On The Side

  • Michigan has only scored fewer than 85 points once this season.
  • Minnesota’s Cade Tyson is averaging 20 points more per game — 22.6 points — than he did last season at North Carolina when he tallied an average of just 2.6 points. The 6-7 Tyson spent the first two years of his college career at Belmont.
  • Zuby Ejiofor has blocked a combined 16 shots in St. John’s last two games. The Red Storm will open Big East play tonight in Queens against DePaul.
  • USC freshman and five-star prospect Alijah Arenas (knee) will return to practice this week and is aiming to potentially make his college debut in mid-January, Eric Musselman told College Hoops Today on Monday. Meanwhile, Trojans guard Rodney Rice (shoulder) has no timetable for a return to the lineup. A transfer from Maryland, Rice averages 20.3 PPG and 6.0 APG.
  • Loyola Chicago was picked fifth in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll, but has limped to a 3-8 start. Things won’t get any easier this week as the Ramblers head to the West Coast for a pair of games against San Francisco and Santa Clara.

Daily Specials

  • DePaul at St. John’s
  • Tennessee at Louisville
  • South Carolina at Clemson
  • Butler at UConn
  • Towson at Kansas

Leftovers